Love the perfume and finesse here with fresh flowers, blackberries, crushed stones and cement. Cedar. Full and very long with tight and muscular tannins that go on for minutes. Tight and thoughtful. Soulful. Try after 2030.

This full, fruity wine is packed with acidity as well as ripeness. It has a fresh black-currant character, and the structure underneath is strong. It will develop relatively quickly, but then could hold at its peak for...

(WE94-96 points) Big and powerful this is a wine that is supported by dense tannins. The feeling is dry and firm with a brooding black-currant character.

After falling into decline in the 1950s, Château Brown was revived after it was bought by businessman Bernard Barthe in 1994, to be taken over again 20 years later by the Mau family. Now led by fifth-generation...

Clear minerality spirals through this wine. It has a salinity and grip that's just totally seductive. A more subtle and intellectual white than some, it has a fierce sense of energy and is just frankly delicious. A touch...

A blend of 55% Merlot and 45% Cabernet Franc, the 2010 Angelus has a deep garnet color, with a touch of brick. It erupts from the glass with notes of black cherry preserves, molten chocolate, licorice, and plum pudding...

This is a glorious 2020 with such pure fruit of currants and blackberries, as well as dark chocolate. It’s full and layered and opens in the glass to a lovely layer of fine, velvety tannins that are bright and citrusy...

Blackcurrant, pine cone, walnut, crushed gravel and dried flowers on the nose. It’s medium-bodied with firm, fine-grained tannins and fresh acidity. Sleek and refined. Try from 2023.

(94+ points) A terrific performance for this estate, the 2019 Grand Village reveals a delicate, perfumed, complex bouquet with inviting aromas of dark wild berries, iris, violet, menthol and lead pencil. On the palate...

Enticing inky depths to the colour, slate tannins that are fully in control, adding precision and power to the cassis fruits. As it opens, the austerity recedes and sweet blackberry and loganberry fruit appear, along with...

This is already really delicious. The black-fruit aromas are really ripe, but there’s no hint of jammy stuff. Tastes simultaneously juicy and creamy, and the tannins are so graceful: The wine glides across the palate. If...

Dark fruit, lush, opulent, rich textures, layers of deep, ripe sweet fruits, ample concentration, length and a long, fruit-filled finish. What's not to like? Give it some time for the oak to integrate. This will be best...

The 2020 Cantenac Brown is a knock-out. A Margaux of towering intensity, the 2020 is dense and vertical at the same time. It's a combination that works so well. Dark cherry, plum, chocolate, new leather, licorice and...

Dried flowers, lots of pot pourri scents on the nose, very aromatic in a floral sense with some rich Cabernet blackcurrant flavours at the back. Smooth and lively, excellent acidity from the get go, this has a nice bounce...

(96-97 points) Very plush and tannic with full body and lots of structure and intensity. Top second wine. Very solid and quite muscular with fine tannins and texture.

97+ Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, the 2017 Smith Haut Lafitte charges out of the gate with bold expressions of warm redcurrants, baked blackberries and crème de cassis with hints of spice cake, dried roses...

The 1966 Haut-Bailly came from one of the last remaining bottles from their cellar and was served blind. It has a stunning bouquet, secondary aromas of course, brine and wilted rose petal, a touch of hickory, taut and...

A lighter-framed vintage that will be ready to drink before the classic 10 year window. You see hints of this immediately in the plum colour, with shadings of a lighter raspberry around the rim even at four years old. The...

In comparison to the Grand Village, the 2020 Les Perrières De Lafleur comes from more limestone soils, and the blend is more Cabernet Franc-dominated, checking in as 71% Bouchet (Cabernet Franc) and the rest Merlot. It...

Violet-edged, with sculpted fruit and an enticing mix of precision and generosity, with classic St Julien balance. Great depth of fruit, crushed rocks, smoked earth, tobacco. Takes time to show itself, but there is sweet...

Aromas of blackberry, plum, cocoa, iodine, clove and graphite. It’s medium-to full-bodied with firm, silky tannins. Tightly wound and mineral at the moment, with dusty gravel and graphite notes, yet with focus and...

Complex nose, blending notes of elderberries, black cherries, spices, cedar,and violets. It’s full-bodied and structured with elegant tannins and a fleshy texture. Flavorful, savory finish. Try after 2024.

(96-99) I’ll taste the 2018 Le Pin from barrel again in April for en primeur, but I was thrilled with this early look, and it appears to be a step up over the 2017. Boasting a vivid purple color and magical notes of...

Deep garnet purple in color, the 2019 Pavie is a tad restrained to start, needing some patient swirling to coax out notes of fresh blueberries and boysenberries plus underlying scents of kirsch, violets, star anise, and...

Berry, cherry and chocolate on the nose, with hints of spices. Full-bodied, with chewy tannins and a spicy, cedary, dark chocolate aftertaste. Very silky and caressing. Grabs your attention. Muscular for Cheval...

Loads of raspberry and blackberry jam on the nose. Full and pretty, with strawberry jam and vanilla character, yet still subtle and fresh. Give this time to mellow. Pull the cork after 2012. Find the wine